


The Box

by noraebangbang



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Other, POV Animal, Prompt Fill, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-06
Updated: 2015-09-06
Packaged: 2018-04-19 08:09:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,999
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4739051
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/noraebangbang/pseuds/noraebangbang
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kyungsoo, a grumpy Scottish fold, finds he has to share his home with the new Bombay on the block, Jongin. But he is NOT sharing his box.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Box

**Author's Note:**

> Another [prompt fill](http://exopromptmeme.livejournal.com/20338.html?thread=8886898#t8886898)! This was ridiculously fun to write. And shout out to [WeirdHybrid](http://archiveofourown.org/users/WeirdHybrid/pseuds/WeirdHybrid) for helping with the pet breeds!

The other pets made too much noise. At least, this was Kyungsoo’s opinion. He’s lived in the big house the longest, seen all these other animals come in, almost sort of made friends with them. But they were still too noisy. Too noisy, and too big. Like the giant fluffball Chanyeol, a retriever who imposed himself everywhere, and shed even more places than that.

Kyungsoo’s only real solace lay within his box. The other cats knew not to touch his box, a long rectangle with a lid that let him lie flat and invisible. Sometimes, the others might poke his box, but only while he’s inside, and absolutely never do they try to get in.

So on the day that the humans bring in a new cat, Kyungsoo knows it’ll be another few weeks of biting and clawing that rule into this new cat’s brain. He does not come out of his box to greet this new cat.

It’s late at night, long after the humans have gone to bed and most of the other pets sleep as well. Kyungsoo, still in his box, lifts his head a little to peek out. Nothing looks out of place, at least initially. Chanyeol and Baekhyun, an overfed, overly hyper Corgi, sleep together in their normal spot on the sofa, and Jongdae, a lazy beagle, stretches out across two beds because he’s not so great at sharing. It’s all standard fare, and Kyungsoo likes it that way.

Which is fine, until a shadow with eyes pops up right in front of him.

He recoils, hisses, almost flips his box off of its table.

“Hi!” the shadow says.

Great. It must be the new cat. It looks stupid. It sounds stupider. Its eyes are way too round and too bright for its face and Kyungsoo is certain it’s not going to fit in with the others at all. He slinks down into his box again to disappear.

“Are you Kyungsoo?” the new cat asks as it paws at the lid of the box.

“Go away.”

“I’m Jongin,” the cat says. Kyungsoo didn’t ask. Nor does he care. He keeps quiet in the hopes that this Jongin might think he escaped out of a secret exit. “Junmyeon said you were the other cat!” Kyungsoo growls quietly and debates going to find the border collie and scratching his snout for that. “What are you doing?”

“Go away,” Kyungsoo repeats.

“Okay,” Jongin says. Kyungsoo would feel bad about how sad he sounds, but he definitely doesn’t care.

***

By Jongin’s fourth day in the house, he’s made friends with all seven of the dogs that live there. Even Sehun, a rather snooty Afghan, takes a shine to Jongin quickly. Everyone loves the new cat. Except Kyungsoo. Kyungsoo, still in his box, only slinking out when he’s certain Jongin is napping so he can eat and do his business before going back to his box.

This time, on his way back, the Brittany named Yixing sits in his way.

“You should really be nice to Jongin,” he says. Kyungsoo steps around him and curses the fact that Yixing follows. “He’s a cat like you.”

“He’s not like me,” Kyungsoo grumbles.

“You’re both cats,” Yixing points out. Somehow this answer is supposed to be a revelation to Kyungsoo.

Kyungsoo ignores Yixing and makes the leap up onto his table, right back into his box, and grumbles some as Yixing stands to stare at him.  
“You know, it’s scary coming into new situations,” Yixing says. “You should try to be understanding.”

He takes his paws off of the table at the sound of one of the humans coming, And Kyungsoo burrows deeper into his box.

***

Two weeks into Jongin’s life in the house, he starts to sit near Kyungsoo’s box every now and then. Never for very long, and never making any noise. Kyungsoo thinks he’s plotting something, and he stays crouched in his box to let out low, lengthy warning growls. Jongin is never fazed by them. It’s weird to Kyungsoo that he keeps coming back to sit and do nothing and then leave. It’s weirder that he starts to anticipate it.

***

It takes a whole month for Kyungsoo to come out of his box at the same time that Jongin is awake. At first, the others avoid him, as if acknowledging that he’s out of the box might set him off. But eventually, they fall back into old routines—Kyungsoo sitting around watching TV with Minseok the westie, letting Chanyeol and Baekhyun chase him for brief stretches of time, stealing food from Jongdae. Jongin lingers in the background, never coming too close, and Kyungsoo wonders if he’s successfully warded this new cat off.

During dinner one evening, when the dogs are all in their kennels because the humans have guests over, Kyungsoo feels Jongin’s giant eyes on him.

“Stop staring,” he says, the first words he’s said to Jongin in weeks. Jongin seems to take that as a victory given his grin.

“Why do you like that box so much?” Jongin asks. Kyungsoo crunches his food and pretends not to hear. “Is it because you want to be invisible? You shouldn’t.”

Kyungsoo tries to frown while eating but decides he’s more hungry than annoyed. He’s almost pleased that the other cat has shut up, until he feels Jongin headbutt him in the side.

He stays in his box again for the next few days.

***

The humans, having noticed Kyungsoo and Jongin don’t get along, take Kyungsoo’s box away in order to encourage more interaction. They immediately regret that upon lying their heads down on pee-covered pillows. Kyungsoo gets his box back the next morning.

***

Once Kyungsoo feels he’s cleansed his fur of Jongin contamination, he starts to venture back out of the box more often again. Though, he’s back to avoiding Jongin while he’s awake. Unfortunately, a new problem crops up—Jongin starts sleeping right beside the box. Kyungsoo tries to sneak out, but as soon as the box lid lifts, Jongin is up, staring and grinning and greeting him like an idiot.

“We’re going to be friends,” Jongin decides. “I don’t like other cats either. But I like you. I like your ears. They look weird.”

Kyungsoo considers biting Jongin for that and paws at his tiny folded ears a moment. “Your eyes are weird.”

“Can I sit in your box?”

“No.”

“What if I just…”

Jongin reaches a paw out and pokes the box, which earns him a swat. Kyungsoo surprises himself by not using his claws and instantly regrets it when Jongin seems to think it’s a game. He pokes the box again, gets hit again. They fight like that for a stretch before Kyungsoo hides completely. He definitely does not think about how fun that was.

***

By month two, Kyungsoo has reluctantly accepted that Jongin is not going back to a shelter, and that he will not go away until they’re friends. They play their swatting game a few times a day, which Kyungsoo firmly does not enjoy, and occasionally eat their dinner together. In silence, of course, as Jongin learned not to bug Kyungsoo while eating. Occasionally, there’s more headbutting, and Kyungsoo stops finding it so gross. But it’s still a little annoying.

One evening, while running away from Chanyeol and Baekhyun, Jongin jumps on top of Kyungsoo’s box. Kyungsoo lets out a cry at being suddenly squished, and the dogs start up a chorus of barks. The humans intervene and put the dogs in their kennels to give everyone time to calm down.  
When they leave, Jongin hops down off of the box.

“Sorry,” he says.

“Go away.”

“Aww not this again,” Jongin sighs. “I’m sorry. Chanyeol almost bit my butt!”

“Don’t touch my box.”

“Fine.”

Kyungsoo waits for him to speak again. He doesn’t.

***

For the next week, Kyungsoo watches from his box as Jongin ignores his existence. It isn’t supposed to be this way; he’s supposed to do the ignoring. And yet here was Jongin, avoiding the box, the table, Kyungsoo’s food dish. When Kyungsoo creeps out of the box to go investigate the goings-on of the dogs, Jongin retreats to the fancy new cat tree the humans had gifted him. Something weird shifts in Kyungsoo. He definitely does not like it.

“Hey. Jongin. Hey.” Kyungsoo swats at Jongin’s tail as it swishes above him. Jongin doesn’t acknowledge him. “Hey!”

“Go away,” Jongin says sleepily.

Kyungsoo hops up on top of the tree and leans down to stare into the hidey hole that Jongin has claimed.

“You can’t do this,” Kyungsoo declares. “You can’t ignore me when I’m ignoring you.”

“Do you know how dumb that sounds?” Jongin asks.

Kyungsoo does.

“Leave me alone, I’m napping,” Jongin says. “You said go away, I went away. Make up your mind.”

“You…shut up.”

At least back in his box, Kyungsoo can be alone to think. He just hates that he’s thinking about Jongin’s stupid eyes.

***

Kyungsoo eats quietly, staring at Jongin doing the same, and wonders if maybe he’s being unreasonable. Jongin isn’t quite so offensive to his senses. He’s fun, sometimes. Maybe being nice wouldn’t be so bad. But the thought of that just annoys Kyungsoo. He swats at his food for a moment, then, with a grunt, slams his head against Jongin’s before running back to the safety of his box.

***

Jongin sleeps on top of the box sometimes. Kyungsoo wants to complain, but there’s a strange comfort that comes from the feel of Jongin purring above him. It’s almost a welcome feeling. He doesn’t even complain when Jongin starts sticking his head into the box during their slap fights. Jongin steps a paw into the box, and Kyungsoo does nothing more than let out a short grunt.

Somehow, over the course of a few weeks, Jongin slowly works his way into Kyungsoo’s box completely, and before Kyungsoo can really process it, he’s sitting in his box with Jongin right beside him. He ignores the smug look on Jongin’s face about it. And the surprise on the dogs’ faces. It’s slightly harder to ignore the flash of the boy human’s camera or the girl human squealing excitedly.

He jumps out of the box to ruin their photos.

***

“Kyungsoo!” Jongin’s shouting rattles Kyungsoo out of his nap. “I’m coming in.”

“What? No!” Kyungsoo tries to complain, tries to tell Jongin that the box isn’t big enough for both of them to lie in, but he gets half a syllable out before Jongin is on top of him. “Ow, stop this! My lungs!”

“You’re fine,” Jongin insists. “I don’t weigh that much.”

Kyungsoo grunts. And to his amazement, he drifts back to sleep.

***

After a rather unpleasant vet visit to get more vaccinations, Kyungsoo discovers that his box isn’t on the table anymore. For a moment, he panics. He needs that box, really needs it, and now it isn’t there. It couldn’t be because he wasn’t getting along with Jongin, considering they’d fallen asleep together in that box nearly every day since the first time. He starts toward the stairs to go to the humans’ room and exact revenge, but takes a detour as he hears the girl human speaking.

Instead of his old, smallish box, another box gets set on the table. Another, much larger box, with a few holes cut into it to see out of comfortably. Kyungsoo bristles; this is not his box. This is wrong. But he hops up to inspect the box anyway, and Jongin is right behind him.

Once the lady human is out of the room, Jongin nudges Kyungsoo with his head. “This box is nice,” he says. “You go in first.”

Kyungsoo hesitates, but eventually leaps inside. The new box is much roomier. The holes are perfect for glaring at the dogs. He yelps as Jongin hops in on top of him but eventually the purring settles him down. This box was made for two. He almost kind of likes it that way.


End file.
